A lot of emotions have come up in these last few days. Especially that of sadness, anger, fear, joy and disgust. We all feel things differently. We all react to situations differently. I just wanted to let you all know that all emotions are acceptable and valid. It is important to process them all in order to lead a healthy life. So here’s a series based on the movie- Inside out, on the importance of these emotions.
Sadness
Some of us are going through unprocessed sadness in the situation. Sadness because of the George Floyd incident, sadness because so many people have lost their lives unnecessarily. Sadness because of the news of Irrfan Khan, Rishi Kapoor, Wajid Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput. Sadness because the death of Sushant Singh Rajput could’ve been prevented. But we as a society failed to normalise mental health issues. We couldn’t create an environment where people would feel free to speak up.
Fear
Fear because of coronavirus. Fear because of racism. Fear of being judged in a way that it makes us look like we’re “seeking attention” when we try talking about our mental illnesses. When actresses try talking about it, it is said that this is nothing but a publicity stunt.
Anger
Anger because of our failure as a society to say no to racism, anger because of the need to stay quarantined. I for one, feel particularly angry because some one of us had to commit suicide for us to start thinking that our approach to mental health is flawed. Anger because I don’t want people to jump on the bandwagon of stressing how important mental health is and then go back to living their self- centred lives.
Disgust
Disgust because even with so many people losing their lives, I thought maybe for a while, we’ll learn that the lives of people are more important than petty issues like discrimination. I thought maybe we were done with religious battles. But I was wrong. Disgust because even now, we have to fight for our basic human rights.
Joy
Joy because inspite of this, people have a hope in their hearts and feel that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Joy because it is a time of healing. Jou because every month of this year has gone by reminding us why it’s important to be a good person. Even though with all that is happening around the world, there’s rage within people that will change things in a better way.
All sorts of reactions are valid and acceptable.
Identity what it is you’re feeling and accept it.
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Know why you feel the way you do.
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Think about the best way to express it.
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Learn how to change your mood.
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Seek support.
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Get help with difficult emotions.
Even with all that is happening around the world, there’s rage within people that will help them demand for their rights. The different reactions of people will lead to people bringing different necessary changes in our society.
Everyone is feeling things differently. Be there for people you feel are struggling. If things don’t feel right, reach out to people- friends, families or even strangers. Reach out to people who seem happy too- you can be a strong person and still struggle with mental illness. You could be next to someone dealing with a lot of pain and still not know about it. Mental health can be invisible. So I just have one request- Please, please be kind.